Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Locke pointed at the image projected by the illusion school's magical projection and said, "In the traditional view, the energy storage of magical plants relies heavily on seeds or tubers. But my team and I have discovered a special root structure capable of temporarily storing energy."

"This root possesses a special structure, the Glandular Root Pouch, which can temporarily store energy and release it within a short period of time."

"This therefore represents a cross-disciplinary innovation I have made in the fields of plant physiology and energy metabolism. Through testing, the Glandular Root Pouch structure can effectively enhance the instantaneous burst capability of a magical plant."

"I transferred this structure to a Big Snow Crown Bromeliad using grafting cultivation methods. The Big Snow Crown Bromeliad's standard magical plant traits increased in performance by roughly ten percent across the board, but the peak magic pressure at the moment of instantaneous burst was... doubled."

Locke said, "In other words, this method of storing energy in the form of Agavone Bodies and then releasing magical energy by converting Agavone Bodies into Agave Acid..."

"Each unit of Agavone Body converted to Agave Acid can release approximately the magic pressure of three First Circle Fireball spells."

"By the same logic, each unit of Agavone Body can store magic pressure equivalent to three First Circle Fireball spells."

"The only issue is that the process and result of converting Agavone Bodies into Agave Acid are harmful to the plant, and once the plant withers, it will also cause widespread soil acidification."

"Agave Acid is in itself a natural magical structural component that the Conjuration School and the Evocation School commonly use to create acid magical projectiles. It is inherently a highly dangerous type of magic."

Locke said, "Agavone Bodies are extremely explosive substances, and so this energy-locking structure, the Glandular Root Pouch, possesses a special structure at the spirituality level for the purpose of stabilizing the Agavone Bodies."

"However, this requires a large amount of additional energy resources to maintain this structure."

Locke continued to elaborate on the significance of his research findings. "This research of mine fills a gap in the study of short-term energy dispatch in plants."

"This conclusively demonstrates that the bias found in certain First Circle articles within the Alchemy School and the Conjuration School against magical plants' capacity for burst magical damage is a narrow view."

The three reviewers exchanged glances.

Just as they had expected, the quality of Locke's Origin Academy research was extraordinarily high.

Although these were projects designed by the Origin Academy for young wizards to practice on, he always managed to produce results that carried significant innovative value while being highly oriented toward practical application.

In Locke, foundational research and commercial practicality always seemed to intertwine of their own accord.

This was different from the vast majority of young First Circle wizards at Golden Crown Mountain, who preferred sweeping and grand-scale approaches.

Locke had a very contradictory quality about him. He carried both the traits of someone who had received an excellent education and the temperament of someone who had climbed up step by step from the bottom.

This quality was one they were familiar with, because Witch Yekaterina had it as well.

The majority of Witch Yekaterina's theoretical research could ultimately generate a large quantity of commercial applications.

That was precisely why she had been able to, as an outsider wizard, establish so many shop alliances across the Golden Crown Mountain district and the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

And it was why she could use the profits of those shop alliances to exert reverse influence on the Academic Committee, the Golden Crown Mountain Sacred Wizardry Tribunal, and even to buy out those wizards among the four major factions of Golden Crown Mountain who maintained explicit neutrality in the key laboratories.

And why she could sustain an extensive monitoring system that tracked the general movements of every team member under her charge.

The sun ring wizard from the Council of Elders was not very familiar with Locke, but at this point Locke was a competitor in the Grand Magic Modeling Competition and had no conflict of interest with their Council of Elders, so the wizard held nothing but pure admiration for Locke.

He gave a continuous nod. "This Glandular Root Pouch structure does indeed fill a research gap in First Circle magical plants' energy-locking structures for short-term energy storage."

"Although it appears to require a significant cost to maintain, which would explain why it is not commonly seen among magical plant communities across various worlds."

Locke then went on to cover the mechanism of action of the four types of natural magical structural components, the energy conversion process, and the special spirituality structure of the Glandular Root Pouch.

He gave a clear explanation of this newly discovered energy-locking structure's function, principles, mechanism of action, possible future directions of application, and its broader significance.

Locke had focused on his primary innovation, which was the rare temporary energy-locking structure found in plants.

He knew this point was a significant advantage and would make it easier to pass the Tier 1 funding project defense without being sent back by the reviewers.

Locke glanced at the three reviewers.

Wizard Hao was a breeder who leaned toward researching Tyrant Element plants and plant specialized varieties.

The wizards from the Council of Elders and the Rose Council, meanwhile, were on one hand more interested in whether the bionic structures of plants could be applied to the field of dynamics, and on the other more interested in whether the specific spirituality structures of plants could be applied to rose flower-language studies.

All three were wizards in the breeding science branch under the broad life school, but each specialized in a different small category of magic.

The sun ring wizard from the Council of Elders specialized in the sub-category of magical plant bionic structural studies.

The sun ring wizard from the Rose Council was a flower-language master.

Wizard Hao was a Third Circle wizard, and Locke did not have a very deep understanding of his area of research.

Third Circle wizards occupied a different ecological niche from Second Circle wizards.

Team Leader Cis had provided him with the academic backgrounds of the reviewers before the defense, so that he could find the key points to focus on during his presentation.

After all, if the panel had more ecologists, he should emphasize the impact of the Glandular Root Pouch energy-locking structure on a magical plant's ability to adapt in the wild.

But now, the panel leaned more toward wizards focused on applications of magical plant structures.

So Locke placed particular emphasis on elaborating on the reference value of the Glandular Root Pouch energy-locking structure for the major schools of magic.

Locke spoke in a steady and unhurried manner, and in the final stage, summarized what he believed to be the possible applications. "I believe this structure will be of great reference value to the energy buffering system of the Dynamics School, particularly in the field of wave dynamics."

"In rose flower-language studies, it also has a foundational spirituality-strengthening effect on magical flower bouquets..."

All three reviewers nodded, feeling that Locke had put considerable thought into this.

His ability to say these things demonstrated that he had read the works of each of them. Otherwise, he would not have taken the trouble to specifically mention potential applications in their respective areas of familiarity during the summary stage.

All three reviewers warmed to Locke somewhat.

Locke said, "Overall, the Glandular Root Pouch structure looks more like a niche experimental route for plants. While paying the additional cost of consuming a large amount of resources, bearing the associated risks, and dealing with consequences such as soil acidification, it adopted this temporary energy storage structure, the Glandular Root Pouch..."

"On the whole, it cannot be said to be particularly efficient. But in certain specific fields, it will certainly have its own distinctive uses."

Fifteen minutes later, Locke concluded his defense.

The three wizards exchanged a glance. The sun ring wizard from the Council of Elders did not speak first.

As a Golden Crown Mountain wizard, his role was to anchor the proceedings, regulating the rhythm of the questioning panel.

He was there to prevent two high-circle wizards from putting a young First Circle wizard on the spot.

In his heart, however, he was already aware that this was simply a habit he maintained at defenses. The young man before him did not seem to need him to play that role.

The sun ring wizard from the Rose Council was reminded of her good friend Witch Lana, who had praised Locke a number of times to her face.

She had already had a fairly favorable first impression of Locke.

Wizards from the Rose Council tended to be more emotionally driven, which was also a common trait among flower-language masters.

For wizards they looked upon favorably, everything about them was naturally wonderful. For wizards they did not care for, everything about them seemed disagreeable.

In truth, this had little to do with whether those wizards were actually excellent or not.

It was simply a personality trait of those flower-language masters.

Even a very outstanding young wizard could have all manner of faults pointed out if they happened to have been looked on unfavorably.

But at this moment, this sun ring wizard, Witch Nina, had already formed a positive impression of Locke through her connection with Witch Lana.

Locke's excellent showing just now had naturally further earned her goodwill.

Witch Nina looked at Locke, her eyes bright. Flower-language masters who studied the spirituality and natural magical structural components of rose-type magical plants had a sensitivity to spirituality that exceeded that of ordinary wizards, and naturally their emotions were richer than ordinary wizards' as well.

She gave Locke a nod. "Impressive. Lana told me about you, and at the time I thought she was being biased. But now I find she was right. You are indeed a very outstanding wizard."

Locke replied with composure and without servility or arrogance, "Thank you for Lord Lana's kind words. I only do my work seriously, and Lord Lana likely recognized my diligence, which is why she offered me guidance on a few occasions. I am very grateful to her."

Witch Nina's eyes held a smile. "Lana once said that you are a wizard who makes people feel very at ease. That description is indeed accurate. Recently you have had some unpleasant friction with certain wizards of our Rose Council, and I have heard a good deal of biased and unfounded talk."

Witch Nina smiled. "Now that I have seen you in person, it is clear that one should never trust hearsay over one's own eyes. Having met you, I feel you are simply a very sincere young wizard. Those unpleasant things that were said were clearly not to be taken seriously."

Witch Nina said to Locke, "Would grafting in this energy-locking structure affect the metabolic pathways of the original magical plant's natural magical structural components?"

Locke paused, then candidly acknowledged, "Lord Nina, this is an area where my research is indeed insufficient."

"Time was limited and costs had to be considered, and there is not yet enough data in this area at this stage. But looking at the overall picture, there has been no negative impact on the magical plant traits of the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad currently transplanted with it."

Witch Nina gave a nod.

She had only been asking casually.

The completeness of this research was already very satisfactory, sufficient at the very least to pass the Tier 1 funding project at the Origin Academy.

What she had just mentioned was appropriate for a higher-tier funding project, which would require the data to be that detailed.

Witch Nina nodded, her eyes full of appreciation. "Very well, I have no more questions."

Witch Nina then suddenly said something entirely unrelated to the previous topic. "By the way, do you have a World Stone yet? If not, I think that is rather a pity."

Locke looked at Witch Nina with surprise.

This had nothing to do with the defense, yet she had said it without any preamble, and Witch Nina showed no intention of elaborating further.

In that instant, Locke's thoughts raced, and his mind ran through a rapid series of deductions about the meaning behind her words.

'Witch Nina is undoubtedly warning me.' Locke felt a flicker of alertness. 'She is a sun ring wizard, and holds a very high standing even among Second Circle wizards. Her saying this must be hinting that I had better find a way to obtain a World Stone as soon as possible, as a safety measure.'

'I'm not sure what exactly she means, but the world as seen by a sun ring wizard must be different from what I see.'

'Just as the world as seen by a First Circle wizard is completely different from the narrow world seen by a wizard apprentice.'

'There must be a reason she spoke this way. Most of the wizard shoe shop alliances I have offended have backgrounds connected to the Rose Council. Even those without a Rose Council connection still have backgrounds tied to wizard academy organizations in the Rose Council district.'

Wizard Hao coughed, drawing Locke's attention back. He wore an expression that was somewhere between a smile and not. "Young Locke, no one can know the future for certain. But you do have a good way with people."

"Very well, I have a few questions for you. How do you prove that this is an active energy-locking structure, rather than an accumulation of metabolic waste products in a magical plant?"

Wizard Hao had cut straight to the heart of the matter.

He was worthy of being a high-circle wizard. With a single question, he had gone straight to the core, like a skilled hand parting an ox.

Fortunately, Locke had prepared for this aspect in advance.

Locke said, "I conducted a specific energy labeling experiment on the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad grafted with the Glandular Root Pouch, labeling the four types of key natural magical structural components."

"I confirmed that after the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad was subjected to stress, the energy was actively mobilized, and specific changes appeared in the key natural magical structural components."

"The quantity of the four natural magical structural components shifted from increasing to decreasing, reflecting the process of energy release and conversion."

"Here is the chart." Locke proactively displayed the chart he had prepared on the illusion magic projection.

Locke had come to a decision. Since Witch Nina had warned him, he had better find a way to obtain a World Stone as quickly as possible, to have one on hand as a safeguard.

A completely untouched World Stone was unlikely to be purchasable simply by spending money.

Or if it was, the sum required would be an astronomical figure.

But he could perhaps spend money to purchase an ordinary World Stone first.

Although obtaining a World Stone normally required the conquest of a plane, spending a great sum in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands to purchase one was not entirely out of the question.

It was simply the kind of thing where supply could never meet demand, and it was never left sitting unused.

Because even if a wizard did not need it at the moment, it could be stored away as a reserve.

It was, in the most absolute sense, hard currency.

But the academy did have certain rewards that came with special procurement channels for World Stones.

In any case, since Witch Nina had said those words without context or follow-up, it was better for him to heed the advice and secure a World Stone first.

After all, when the time came to construct his Grand Magic, he could assess the situation and decide which World Stone to use.

Wizard Hao gave a satisfied nod. "Fairly rigorous. Second question, does this structure exist widely in other plants?"

"Or more broadly, does it exist in the plants of certain worlds?"

Locke hesitated for a moment and said, "I searched the literature and found no related discoveries by other wizards in this area. In my view, the Glandular Root Pouch structure cannot be widespread."

"Because for a magical plant, evolving this energy-locking structure also requires paying additional energy."

"A typical state of energy imbalance has emerged here."

"Among magical plants, niche plant organs are in a common state of this kind. That is, the energy consumed to evolve and maintain such a plant organ may exceed, or be equivalent to, the energy increase or functional benefit it provides."

"Therefore, I believe this energy-locking structure does not have the potential to appear widely across various worlds. Instead, it would arise in certain specific environments."

"Taking into account that the drawbacks of the Agavone Body and the Agave Acid outweigh the benefits, I believe this environment would be fairly niche."

Locke said, "But I will be searching for such environments in the future."

"I believe that in some of the rarer planes within the infinite void, a small number of such environments should exist, and within those environments there may be similar energy-locking structures."

The matter itself was also deeply connected to the Expungement Curse.

He was simply temporarily unable to free himself to conduct more in-depth research.

Given the right conditions, he could absolutely continue digging down that path.

How exactly did the Era of Stars come to an end.

What was the Mortal Age actually created to conceal.

Why was there something wrong with the Black Sun Tower, and why did the princess believe it could not be trusted.

Whether those immortal dictators still existed, and whether they might return once more.

All of these things he was deeply curious about as well.

Wizard Hao smiled as he offered his commentary. "The Crisis-Reproduction Trade-off Theory is a classic theory by Lord Galen Armstrong, the Throne wizard of our Quinn Jol University."

"The energy allocation of magical plants does not follow the principle of maximum energy utilization efficiency. Instead, it involves trade-offs between survival and reproduction."

"To increase survival efficiency, improve survival rates in extreme environments, and benefit the long-term transmission of a plant's essence, some magical plants in high-risk environments evolve energy-locking structures that consume more energy than they produce."

"The Crisis-Reproduction Trade-off Theory was developed to explain why magical plants specifically evolve offensive energy-locking structures that consume more energy. He put forward this theory when he was still a young man. Ah, in the blink of an eye, we have both become old men."

Locke bowed respectfully to Wizard Hao. "Yes, Lord Hao. This is the theory put forward by Lord Galen Armstrong."

"I have made a poor showing."

Wizard Hao smiled. "Not at all. Seeing young people like you with such energy and drive puts me in fine spirits and brings back memories of the old days."

Wizard Hao asked, "You mentioned earlier that this energy-locking structure can be applied in certain specific fields. Have you already formed any ideas of your own?"

Locke said, "Yes. I have already designed my fifth wizard shoe model based on this, and I am about to hand it over to the Arthas Plantation."

Wizard Hao was not very familiar with the grievances between Locke and Solas Light Foot and Melechi Magic Step.

After all, wizard shoes were in the broad category of sporting products, not magical instruments.

For a Third Circle wizard of Wizard Hao's level, daily affairs were already overwhelming, so he would naturally never have noticed something as minor as the friction between Locke and two top-tier wizard shoe shops.

And in fact, even many magical weavers were not fully aware of it.

After all, Locke's contest for the wizard shoe market was, at present, still in a fairly early stage, amounting to little more than a potential threat.

After listening to a nearby wizard explain the situation, Wizard Hao quickly understood and laughed. "You do indeed remind me very much of Throne Yekaterina. When the Throne was still a First Circle wizard, she too once made a move against the magic wand industry. At the time, ahem... the battle was quite fierce."

"To think that her student is now going up against a wizard shoe industry shop alliance. The two of you really are quite alike."

"Oh, Locke, you look surprised. Your teacher is a very wealthy person. Many shops at Dragon Blood Market are her ventures."

"If I recall correctly, the well-known breeding shop Golden Peach Garden is one she opened."

Locke's eyes went wide, and he was left completely stunned.

Because this was something he had genuinely not known.

He had been to Golden Peach Garden so many times, and not a single person had ever told him it was his teacher's venture.

No, wait.

Locke recalled that inside Golden Peach Garden, he had once run into the third-generation members of the Dragon Blood Society.

Thinking about it now, that was probably because Golden Peach Garden was a place those third-generation members frequented for gatherings.

Because it was an Academic Committee venture.

It was only now that Locke realized the waters of Golden Crown Mountain ran far deeper than he had imagined. A single sentence from this man had illuminated something he had previously failed to see.

Only by standing at a greater height could one see further.

But he was not far from becoming a Second Circle wizard himself.

Only by becoming a Second Circle wizard could one truly establish the smallest foothold in the wizard world and have a modest place of one's own.

Wizard Hao wore a teasing smile. "Has she really never told you that Golden Peach Garden is her venture?"

Locke gave a wry smile and nodded. "That is correct, Lord Hao."

Wizard Hao broke into a hearty laugh. "In truth, telling you would not make much difference, because she would not give you a discount. Behind many ventures, the equity structure is complex and has changed hands multiple times. Even the wizards running the shop may not know who their true owner is."

"You might think you are one of their own, when in fact you would turn out to be on the other side. But then, with a spread as vast as the Throne's, if she did not have some money-making ventures on hand, she would likely be bankrupt the next day."

"The resources handed down from the White Wizard Association from above are far too scarce for the number of people competing for them. If one relies entirely on funding for research, it is genuinely very difficult. So she will not give you any discount."

"When my student goes to buy things at my shop, the price is actually even higher than for others. Because then there is no way to haggle. So sometimes, not knowing is better than knowing."

Locke was silent.

So Witch Yekaterina had also once made the same choice he was making now, building shop alliances to generate income sideways and channel it back into her own research progress.

Wizard Hao asked curiously, "By the way, where exactly did you discover this special energy-locking structure?"

Wizard Hao understood that the foundation of Locke being able to discover this energy-locking structure lay entirely in finding a plant that possessed it. Everything else could be achieved by throwing money and manpower at it.

But uniquely, finding that plant in the first place was extraordinarily difficult.

Locke hesitated for a moment, omitting all the critical details, and only said that he had found ancient plant seeds inside an abyssal ruin.

Wizard Hao fell into a thoughtful expression. "That works as well. The advantages of an interdisciplinary approach are looking quite promising. Should I also recruit an archaeologist for my research team next quarter?"

"Although with limited slots recently, even if I were to recruit, I probably couldn't bring in a Second Circle archaeologist. A First Circle would be the most I could manage."

After hearing that Locke had actually dug this up from a ruin, Wizard Hao's thoughts became active as well, finding it a genuinely novel direction.

He also wanted to send some people to dig around various ruins and see whether any valuable magical plants might be unearthed.

Wizard Hao said, "Locke, your fortune has been good. Or rather, you have vision, ability, flexible thinking, and good fortune combined. All of that led you to discover this special energy-locking structure. Then I wish you luck with your next wizard shoe model, and hope it sells even better."

"I have no further concerns on my end. You may consider this defense passed. Though listening to you defend really was very interesting. I truly hope I will have the chance to see you here again."

Locke had already completed a Tier 1 defense.

The next time he wanted to hold a defense here, there was only one option, which was to close out a Special-Tier project.

After all, individual key sub-projects were projects under a collaborating mentor's charge, managed entirely by the collaborating mentor, and did not require a defense here.

Therefore, if Locke wanted to meet again here as Wizard Hao had suggested, he would have to apply for a Special-Tier funding project.

Locke nodded and said, "Lord Hao, I also hope we can meet here again. I will work toward it."

Wizard Hao said with a smile, "I must say it again. I still believe in you. You will certainly become a Second Circle wizard."

Wizard Hao had no objections, and so the other two wizards naturally had none either.

The Tier 1 funding project closing defense was complete.